These easy Banana Bran Muffins are a great on-the-go breakfast option, a sweet healthy snack when you really want to resist cake, or a great way to get your kids to eat more fruit while tempting them with something “cake-like.” Even better, get your kids to help you make them.

I made these because I’d been craving a hearty bran muffin for weeks but no matter where I looked, I couldn’t find any that weren’t full of processed sugar. Sainsbury’s Blueberry Muffins really don’t compete with the goodness you can get from these. When in doubt, always make your own. And I follow that rule from food and drinks to cosmetics. Plus it’s much more fun!

These muffins take less than 30 minutes to make and are filled with antioxidant goodness from the dried dates or raisins, omega 3’s in the walnuts & pumpkin seeds, prebiotic goodness from the fresh bananas, fibre from the oat bran, protein and choline from the eggs and wonderful fatty acids from the coconut oil.

I make these dairy-free and with gluten-free flour. Because I add oat bran they’re technically not gluten-free, unless you can find a gluten-free oat bran, but they’re so adaptable you can amend the ingredients to suit your needs.

You can use any dried fruit or nuts you like but remember the fruit needs to be natural, dried, organic if possible and unsweetened, to maximise the antioxidants and limit unnecessary processed sugar. The fruit and banana make them sweet enough, trust me.

Ingredients – Makes about 12 muffins

200g gluten free flour

100g oat bran

5og chopped walnuts

80g chopped dried dates or raisins

40g pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds

2 tsp baking powder

2 mashed bananas

3 eggs

80ml coconut oil

160ml coconut milk

Method

Mix dry ingredients, nuts and fruit.

Whisk eggs and slowly add oil while continuing to stir. (May need to melt coconut oil until it turns to liquid, but not warm).

Mix eggs & oil with dry ingredients, then add banana. Leave the coconut milk until last so you can control that it doesn’t get too sloppy. Mixture needs to be sticky and moist, but not wet and sloppy.

Bake at 17oC for 20 mins or until a knife inserted comes out clean.

Enjoy warm with a little butter or almond butter and a hot cup of energising green tea, or crumbled on top of yoghurt.